Friday, May 22, 2015

I was thinking of writing about this, but I'm gonna defer to a comment UFT Chapter Leader Mary Ahern left in response to James Eterno last night. You may or may not know that, when UFT leadership was confronted with a demand for a functional ATR chapter, they claimed it wasn't necessary. After all, ATR is temporary, having only been around for ten years. And UFT has been proactive, negotiating great benefits like second-tier due process and the ability to be fired for missing two interviews. And those zany madcap folks at Tweed are pretty good about sending interview commands out at the last minute. Eterno made one by the skin of his teeth. Here's Mary:

Hi James, I've been thinking a lot about the ridiculousness of the
UFT claiming ATRs are represented in chapter elections because they are
now allowed to run for and vote in whatever schools they were assigned
to during the first week of May. I emailed my DR about it and spoke to
her about it yesterday. I also brought it up to Queens Borough Rep,
Rona Fraiser as she was making rounds before the DA began. The question I
posed to Rona was, "Let's say an ATR wins the election as my school's
chapter leader but then gets rotated out to another school. What
happens when members need the CL to represent them at grievance hearings
with my principal? How is the CL going to attend those meetings if
they are no longer working in my school?"

Rona's response surprised me. She said, "They'll be able to attend. They'll be given release time."I
then asked, "Will they also be given release time to attend school
safety meetings, consultation meetings, chapter meetings, etc.?" But
Rona walked away without responding. I guess she either didn't like my
question or didn't have an answer.

I wish you, or someone active
in the union, had been an ATR in my school the first week of May because
I would step aside as CL and ask my members to vote for you just to see
if that would really happen. I honestly don't see how it could work.

The
bottom line is that I think ATRs should have their own "functional
chapters" and the ability to elect their own representatives. Ideally,
all ATRs will find permanent placement and no longer be shuffled from
school to school, but until that happens they shouldn't have to file a
lawsuit against the union in order to obtain the right to fair
representation.

I was thinking of writing about this, but I'm gonna defer to a comment UFT Chapter Leader Mary Ahern left in response to James Eterno last night. You may or may not know that, when UFT leadership was confronted with a demand for a functional ATR chapter, they claimed it wasn't necessary. After all, ATR is temporary, having only been around for ten years. And UFT has been proactive, negotiating great benefits like second-tier due process and the ability to be fired for missing two interviews. And those zany madcap folks at Tweed are pretty good about sending interview commands out at the last minute. Eterno made one by the skin of his teeth. Here's Mary:

Hi James, I've been thinking a lot about the ridiculousness of the
UFT claiming ATRs are represented in chapter elections because they are
now allowed to run for and vote in whatever schools they were assigned
to during the first week of May. I emailed my DR about it and spoke to
her about it yesterday. I also brought it up to Queens Borough Rep,
Rona Fraiser as she was making rounds before the DA began. The question I
posed to Rona was, "Let's say an ATR wins the election as my school's
chapter leader but then gets rotated out to another school. What
happens when members need the CL to represent them at grievance hearings
with my principal? How is the CL going to attend those meetings if
they are no longer working in my school?"

Rona's response surprised me. She said, "They'll be able to attend. They'll be given release time."I
then asked, "Will they also be given release time to attend school
safety meetings, consultation meetings, chapter meetings, etc.?" But
Rona walked away without responding. I guess she either didn't like my
question or didn't have an answer.

I wish you, or someone active
in the union, had been an ATR in my school the first week of May because
I would step aside as CL and ask my members to vote for you just to see
if that would really happen. I honestly don't see how it could work.

The
bottom line is that I think ATRs should have their own "functional
chapters" and the ability to elect their own representatives. Ideally,
all ATRs will find permanent placement and no longer be shuffled from
school to school, but until that happens they shouldn't have to file a
lawsuit against the union in order to obtain the right to fair
representation.

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Views expressed herein are solely those of the author or authors, and do not reflect views of my employers, the United Federation of Teachers, or any UFT union caucus.

Stories herein containing unnamed or invented characters are works of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.